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Columbian Lawyers to sponsor Red Mass at St. James Cathedral

November 1, 2021 Brooklyn Eagle Staff
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On Thursday, the Columbian Lawyers Association will be sponsoring the Red Mass at 5:30 p.m. at the Cathedral Basilica of St. James, Jay Street and Cathedral Place, one block north of Tillary Street. The Very Rev. Patrick Keating, spiritual moderator of the Catholic Lawyers Guild, will be the celebrant and homilist.

The Knights and Ladies of the Holy Sepulchre (wearing capes), the Knights of Columbus and Columbiettes will join with members of the clergy and members of the judiciary (wearing robes) in the procession. There will be a complimentary buffet reception immediately afterward.

The Red Mass will be televised live from St. James on the NET TV network on the following channels: Verizon Fios – Channel 548; Optimum – Channel 30; Spectrum – Channel 97; and NET TV Website – netny.tv

The Red Mass

The revival of Red Mass in the United States is relatively recent. In a few places in Europe it endured the test of centuries, but Cardinal Hayes of New York first called the legal professions together in Downtown Manhattan in 1928. Catholics, Protestants, Jews and people of good faith joined him in invoking Divine Providence for the coming term of the court.

The custom of a Votive Mass in honor of the Holy Spirit originated in 13th century Catholic Europe. Of course, the opening of the Sacred Roman Rota, the supreme judicial body of the Catholic Church has for centuries, been identified with the Red Mass.

In Pre-Reformation England before the Tudors, both the celebrant of the Mass and the twelve “Lord High Justices” robed in the colors of wisdom, martyrdom and the fire of love, a brilliant scarlet, went in a procession to their places in Westminster Abbey. There, in prayer, they opened the Michaelmas term.

In France, the famous La Sainte Chappelle was built by Louis IX to house what was believed to be the sacred relic of the Crown of Thorns. For many years, this church was the chapel of the Order of Advocates and was designed for the exclusive use of the courts of justice. With time, it too became the site of the Messe Rouge (The Red Mass), the celebration of the inauguration of the judicial year.  

Although Sainte Chappelle was damaged during the French Revolution, on restoration, Louis Phillipe dedicated it exclusively to the use of this Messe Rouge.

In Romanesque and Gothic splendor, Catholic members of the legal professions joined one another throughout major cities of Europe to honor the Holy Spirit as the source of wisdom, understanding, counsel, and fortitude and to ask the Lord to bless them with some share of the same.

The Cathedral Basilica of St. James

In August 1823, St. James Church was built and blessed; religious services were begun on the same spot where St. James Cathedral stands today. In 1853, when the Diocese of Brooklyn was established and Bishop John Loughlin was appointed as its first bishop, St. James served as the seat of the bishop of Brooklyn and remains so today.  

St. James is prominent as a parish of “firsts”. It had the first parish school in the church basement and had the first high school (St. James Academy ), which later moved to Clermont Avenue and changed its name to Bishop Loughlin High School after the founder of the diocese. It was the first home of the Sisters of Mercy, the Sisters of St. Joseph, the Visitation Sisters, the Christian Brothers and the Franciscan Brothers.

In 1962, St. James Cathedral was designated a basilica by Rome.

On October 3, 1979, on his first visit to the United States as pope, His Holiness John Paul II stopped and walked among the faithful assembled in front of St. James Cathedral, blessing those who had gathered to greet him.

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